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U.S. NEWS Thursday 27 sepTember 2018

2nd cracked beam found at new San Francisco transit terminal

By JANIE HAR and PAUL Maffei said.
ELIAS "If that's the case, it's likely
Associated Press welding caused the prob-
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A lem," he said.
second beam in San Fran- Buses were rerouted to a
cisco's celebrated new $2 temporary transit center
billion transit terminal shows about two blocks away
signs of cracking, an official that was used during the
said Wednesday, a day af- center's construction. A
ter a crack in a nearby sup- downtown street that runs
port beam shut down the under the beam also was
building that opened just ordered closed indefinite-
last month. ly, causing traffic chaos at
The first crack found by the same time some streets
workers installing roof tiles were closed for a confer-
Tuesday spans a beam ence sponsored by Sales-
holding up a park over force that was expected to
the three-block-long Sales- draw 170,000 attendees.
force Transit Center and Numerous towering condo
runs over a downtown buildings have gone up
street, said Mark Zabaneh, in the booming South of
executive director of Trans- Market neighborhood and
bay Joint Powers Authority, several multistory construc-
which operates the facility. tion projects are underway.
He said the problems were Officials voted in 2012 to
localized to that area of scrap building-height re-
the transit hub but it would strictions to encourage
remain closed "at least growth near the transit hub
through the end of next Mark Zabaneh, Executive Director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, points to a photograph as San Francisco lures tech-
week" as inspections con- showing a a cracked steel beam found in the Salesforce Transit Center, during a news conference nology companies from Sili-
tinued. It's not yet clear Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018, in San Francisco. con Valley.
what caused the cracks at Associated Press Julianna Cheng, 32, who
the facility that includes a lives in the neighborhood,
bus deck, a towering sky-lit she said in a statement. some alleging that con- bearing horizontal beam burst out laughing when
central entrance hall and Engineers decided to shut struction of the transit cen- and the second on a par- asked about cracking in
a rooftop park with an out- down the station around 5 ter caused the Millennium allel beam, Zabaneh said. the $2.2 billion transit cen-
door amphitheater. p.m. Tuesday, as rush hour Tower to sink. American steel was used in ter.
"We're working hard to rec- started, once they learned Zabaneh said he did not the center's construction, "I find it disappointing, but
tify the situation," Zabeneh the extent of the cracking. believe the cracked beams he said. also kind of amusing be-
said. "We're very disap- The transit hub, a com- are connected to ongo- Construction experts say it's cause they built this re-
pointed with what hap- manding presence in ing problems at Millennium exceedingly rare for steel ally big, they spent a lot
pened; we will get to the the city's South of Market Tower. girders that support build- of money," she said. "I feel
bottom of this." neighborhood where con- Engineer Joe Maffei also ings to crack. like the money should have
Mayor London Breed said struction is booming, sits said the troubles at the ter- Engineer David Friedman been used for a lot of other
the building would stay adjacent to the so-called minal appear "completely said it's likely the beams ar- things."
closed until it was safe sinking condominium, Mil- unrelated" to the Millen- rived without cracks, but The online business soft-
to reopen. Its role in the lennium Tower, which has nium Tower's sinking and that once the weight of ware company Salesforce,
broader transportation sys- settled about 18 inches tilting. the roof garden and other which opened its adjacent
tem is too important "not to (45 centimeters) since it He said there have been structures were added, 61-story Salesforce Tower
act quickly to have defini- opened over a former no public reports of similar "new stresses may have earlier this year, bought
tive answers for the public, landfill in 2009. settling problems with the exacerbated the possible naming rights to the transit
and someone needs to be Homeowners have filed terminal. fabrication flaws." center in 2017 as part of a
held accountable once multiple lawsuits against The first crack was found The beams likely passed in- 25-year, $110 million spon-
the cause is determined," the developer and the city, near a weld on a stress- spection after installation, sorship agreement.q